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Paul Sparks
- Online English Lesson Plans, Lesson Material and Ideas for "Culture of
English Speaking Countries Lessons", Xiangtan Normal University...
WESTERN CULTURE AND SOCIETY: THE UNITED KINGDOM (UK) -
England
Source of
Information: "Lonely Planet" travel guide website http://www.lonelyplanet.com
England:
England is looking forward into the new century while trying to forget many
of the developments of the previous 100 years. That period witnessed the
fall of the empire, the loss of the trading base and the nation's inability
to adjust to a diminished role in the modern world - from colonial empire to
member of the EC. But while the Family may have taken a right Royal
battering, many of the other august institutions at the cornerstone of
British life have muddled their way through with a stiff upper lip and a
strong sense of protocol.
The notion of England as
a gentle, fabled land freeze-framed sometime in the 1930s, when community
life revolved around the post office, the country pub and the local
vicarage. The country is now better known for vibrant cities with great
nightlife and attractions, contrasted with green and pleasant countryside
and national parks. After five years of Tony Blair's Labour government,
'new' Britain is a country with a fresh and cuddly Royal family and an
alternative aristocracy of media stars like Victoria and David Beckham to
capture the ire and adoration of the masses. Still, a country that gives a
wig-wearing ex-junkie balladeer a knighthood must be doing something right.
Area: 129,720 sq km
(50,085 sq mi)
Population: 50 million
Capital city: London
People: Anglo-Saxons, Scots, Welsh, Irish, West Indians, Pakistanis,
Indians
Language: English
Religion: Church of England, Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Muslim, Hindu
and Sikh
Government: Parliamentary Democracy
Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II
Prime Minister: Tony Blair
GDP: US$1254 billion
GDP per head: US$21,200
Annual growth: 3%
Inflation: 3%
Major industries: Banking and finance, steel, transport equipment, oil and
gas, tourism
Major trading partners: EU & USA
Member of EU: yes
History:
The first-known inhabitants of England were small bands of hunters, but
Stone Age immigrants arrived around 4000 BC and farmed the chalk hills of
Salisbury Plain, constructing the mysterious stone circles at Stonehenge and
Avebury. They were followed by the Bronze Age Celts from Central Europe who
began arriving in 800 BC, bringing the Gaelic and Brythonic languages (the
former is still spoken in Scotland, the latter in Wales).
The Romans invaded in 43
AD and took only seven years to quell resistance and control most of
England. The Scottish and Welsh tribes were more of a problem, resulting in
the building of Hadrian's Wall across northern England to keep out the
marauding Scots. The Romans brought stability, nice and straight paved roads
and Christianity; in return, the Brits gave the Romans a headache and a dent
in the empire's expense account. The Romans were never defeated, they just
sort of faded away around 410 AD as their empire declined.
Tribes of heathen
Angles, Jutes and Saxons began to move into the vacuum, absorbing the Celts,
and local fiefdoms developed. By the 7th century, these fiefdoms had grown
into a series of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which had come to collectively think
of themselves as English. By the mid-9th century, Vikings had invaded
northern Scotland, Cumbria and Lancashire and the Danes were making inroads
into eastern England. By 871, only Wessex - the half-Saxon, half-Celtic
country south of the Thames - was under English control. At this low point,
the English managed to neutralise the Vikings' military superiority and
began a process of assimilation.
The next invader was
William of Normandy (soon to become known as William the Conqueror), who
arrived on the south coast of England in 1066 with a force of 12,000 men.
After victory at the Battle of Hastings, he replaced English aristocrats
with French-speaking Normans. The Normans built impressive castles, imposed
a feudal system, administered a census and, once again, began to assimilate
with the Saxons.
The next centuries saw a
series of royal tiffs, political intrigues, plague, unrest and revolt. The
Hundred Years War with France blurred into the domestic War of the Roses and
enough Machiavellian backstabbing among royalty to make the present foibles
of the monarchy seem even more trifling than they already are. In the 16th
century, Henry VIII's matrimonial difficulties led to the split with
Catholicism. Henry was appointed head of the Church of England by the
English Parliament and the Bible was translated into English. In 1536, Henry
dissolved the smaller monasteries and confiscated their land as the
relationship between Church and State hit rocky times.
The power struggle
between monarchy and Parliament degenerated into civil war in the mid-17th
century, pitching Charles I's royalists (Catholics, traditionalists, the
gentry and members of the Church of England) against Cromwell's Protestant
parliamentarians. Cromwell's victory segued into a dictatorship, which
included a bloody rampage through Ireland, and by 1660 Parliament was so fed
up that it reinstated the monarchy.
A period of progressive
expansionism followed, as England collected colonies down the American
coast, licensed the East India Company to operate from Bombay and eventually
saw Canada and Australia come within its massive sphere of influence. At
home, England exerted increasing control over the British Isles. The
burgeoning empire's first setback occurred in 1781 when the American
colonies won their war of independence.
Meanwhile, Britain was
fast becoming the crucible of the Industrial Revolution as steam power,
steam trains, coal mines and water power began to transform the means of
transport and production. The world's first industrial cities sprung up in
the Midlands, causing severe dislocation of the population. By the time
Queen Victoria took the throne in 1837, Britain had become the world's
greatest power. Its fleet dominated the seas, knitting together the British
empire, while its factories dominated world trade. Under prime ministers
such as Gladstone and Disraeli, the worst excesses of the Industrial
Revolution were addressed; education became universal, trade unions were
legalised and most men were enfranchised - women had to wait until after
WWI.
Britain bumbled into the
stalemate of WWI in 1914, resulting in the senseless slaughter of a million
Britons and a widening gulf between the ruling and working classes. The
latter set the stage for 50 years of labour unrest, beginning with the 1926
Great Strike and growing throughout the 1930s depression. Britain dithered
through the 1920s and '30s, with mediocre and visionless government, which
failed to confront the problems the country faced - including the rise of
Hitler and imperial Germany.
Britain's never-say-die
character was forged in WWII under the guidance of Winston Churchill.
Britain bounced back from Dunkirk, the relentless Luftwaffe air raids and
the fall of Singapore and Hong Kong to win the Battle of Britain and play a
vital role in the Allied victory. Despite the euphoria, Britain's resources
and influence were exhausted and its empire declined as first India (1947),
then Malaysia (1957) and Kenya (1963) gained their independence.
It took until the 1960s
for wartime recovery to be fully completed, but by then Britons had
supposedly 'never had it so good', according to their prime minister, Harold
Macmillan. The sixties briefly repositioned swinging London back at the
cultural heart of the world, as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Mary Quant,
David Bailey, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton and Co strutted their stuff on the
world stage. But the sixties weren't all mini skirts and Sergeant Pepper:
factionalism in Northern Ireland became overtly violent, leading to the
deployment of British troops in 1969. The Troubles, as they are
euphemistically known, have been dogging the British and Irish governments
and ruining Northern Ireland ever since. The 1970s' oil crisis, massive
inflation, the three-day working week and class antagonism also brought
reality crashing into the party, and in 1979 the Brits elected matronly
Margaret Thatcher to come and mop up their mess for them.
Thatcher broke the
unions, privatised national industries, established a meritocracy, sent a
flotilla to the Falklands and polarised British society. She became the
longest-serving prime minister this century and left such a deep mark on the
Brits that even now, going on for a decade after she was dumped by her
political party, Baroness Maggie looms large over any discussion of domestic
affairs. The ever-so-nice John Major, PM from 1990, failed to rally the
nation to the Conservative cause, and was booted out in no uncertain terms
in elections in May 1997.
England under PM Tony
Blair is a changing place. Asylum seekers, farming, education, health,
Northern Ireland and the European Union still polarize opinion, but cautious
optimism prevails. How England responds to the increasingly assertive
nationalities of Scotland and Wales, and to the changes caused by closer
interaction with Europe, will be primary factors in the future identity of
the country.
Culture:
England's greatest artistic contributions have come in the fields of
theatre, literature and architecture. The country is also, right or wrong, a
treasure house of art and sculpture, from every age and continent. Most
visitors are overwhelmed by the stately homes of the aristocracy, and
England's fine collection of castles and cathedrals. Though motorways, high
rise and tawdry suburban development characterize England's 20th century
architectural heritage, modern architects like Sir Norman Foster and Richard
Rodgers are creating dramatic and innovative structures like the Tate
Modern, Millennium Bridge and Lloyds of London building.
Anyone who has studied
English literature at school will remember ploughing through Chaucer,
Shakespeare, Dickens and Morrissey, and painful though it might have been at
the time, no-one can deny England's formidable contribution to the Western
literary canon.
Perhaps England's
greatest cultural export has been the English language, the current lingua
franca of the international community. There are astonishing regional
variations in accents, and it is not unusual to find those in southern
England claiming to need an interpreter to speak to anyone living north of
Oxford.
The majority of English
who profess religious beliefs belong to the Church of England, which became
independent of Rome in the 16th century. Other significant protestant
churches include Methodist, Baptist and Salvation Army. One in 10 Britons
consider themselves Catholic, and there are now over a million Muslims and
sizeable Hindu, Jewish and Sikh populations. Despite this variety of
religions, most English are fonder of their churches as architectural icons
of grandeur and stability than as houses of religious piety.
Though England is not
famous for the quality of its cuisine, London's recent renaissance in
quality is spreading to the provinces. Travellers will find a remarkable
variety of dining options from all over the world, though those on a budget
should be wary of overdosing on fish 'n' chips, eggs 'n' bacon, and sausages
'n' mash.
Anyone who spends any
extended period of time in England will sympathise with the locals'
obsession with the weather, although in relative terms the climate is mild
and the rainfall is not spectacular. The least hospitable months for
visitors are November to February - it's cold and the days are short. March
and October are marginal - there's more daylight but it can still be very
cold. April to September are undoubtedly the best months, and this is,
unsurprisingly, when most sights are open, and when most people visit. July
and August are the busiest months, and best avoided if at all possible. The
crowds on the coast, at the national parks, in London and popular towns like
Oxford, Bath and York have to be seen to be believed.
Environment:
England is the largest of the three political divisions within the island of
Great Britain. Bound by Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, England
is no more than 29km (18mi) from France across the narrowest part of the
English Channel. Much of England is flat or low-lying. In the north is a
range of limestone hills, known as the Pennines, to the west are the
Cumbrian Mountains and the Lake District. South of the Pennines is the
heavily-populated Midlands, and in the south-west peninsula, known as the
West country, is a plateau with granite outcrops, good dairy farming and a
rugged coastline. The rest of the country is known as the English Lowlands,
a mixture of farmland, low hills, an industrial belt and the massive city of
London.
England was once almost
entirely covered with woodland, but tree cover is now the second lowest in
Europe (after Ireland). Since early this century the government has been
planting conifers to reverse this situation, but the pines have turned the
soils around them acid and destroyed large areas of ancient peatland. Other
common trees include oak, elm, chestnut, lime (not the citrus variety), ash
and beech. Although there isn't much tall flora around, you'll see plenty of
lovely wildflowers in spring - snowdrops, daffodils, bluebells, primroses,
buttercups and cowslips all lend a touch of colour to the English
countryside. On the moors there are several varieties of flowering heathers.
The red deer is the
largest mammal in England, and there are plenty of them (as well as fallow
and roe deer) around. Foxes prosper, and if you're lucky you may see a
badger or hedgehog. Introduced American grey squirrels are forcing out the
smaller local red variety. Rabbits are everywhere, while smaller rodents
such as the shrew, harvest mouse and water vole are less common (but
frightfully cute). England's only poisonous snake, the adder, is rare and
protected. Birdwatching is a popular pastime in Britain, but while the
numbers and diversity of coastal bird species do not appear to be in danger,
the same cannot be said for other British birds - a number of species that
were quite common only 25 years ago are rapidly dwindling because of habitat
destruction.
England's national parks
cover about 7% of the country and include Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Lake
District, the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the North York Moors, the
New Forest, the Broads and Northumberland. English national parks are not
wilderness areas, but they do include areas of outstanding national beauty -
they also tend to be privately owned and provide an antidote to the hectic
pace of many cities.
England's climate is
mild and damp, with temperatures moderated by the light winds that blow in
off its relatively warm seas. Temperatures inland don't get much below
freezing in winter (December to February), or much above 30°C (86°F) in
summer (June to August). The north is the coldest area; London, the
south-east and the West Country are the warmest. Rainfall is greatest in
hilly areas and in the West Country. You can expect cloudy weather and light
drizzle in any part of England at any time.
Attractions
London:
London is a cosmopolitan mixture of the Third and First worlds, of
chauffeurs and beggars, of the establishment, the avowedly working class and
the avant-garde. Unlike comparable European cities, much of London looks
unplanned and grubby, but that is part of its appeal. Visiting London is
like being let loose on a giant-sized Monopoly board clogged with traffic.
Even though you probably won't know where the hell you are, at least the
names will look reassuringly familiar. The city is so enormous, visitors
will need to make maximum use of the underground train system:
unfortunately, this dislocates the city's geography and makes it hard to get
your bearings. Doing some travelling by bus helps fit the city together.
Canterbury Cathedral:
The most impressive and evocative, if not the most beautiful, cathedral in
England is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of All
England. Like most cathedrals, it evolved in stages and reflects a number of
architectural styles, but the final result is one of the world's great
buildings. The ghosts of saints, soldiers and pilgrims fill the hallowed
air, and not even baying packs of French children can completely destroy the
atmosphere. After the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas à Becket in 1170, the
cathedral became the centre of one of the most important medieval
pilgrimages in Europe, a pilgrimage that was immortalised by Geoffrey
Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales. Canterbury itself was severely damaged by
bombing in WWII and parts of the town have been insensitively rebuilt, but
it still attracts flocks of tourists, just as it has for the past 800 years
- though numbers may decrease now pilgrims are charged a US$5 fee to enter
the cathedral.
Stonehenge:
Five-thousand-year-old Stonehenge is the most famous prehistoric site in
Europe, but it remains both a tantalising mystery and a hackneyed tourist
experience. It consists of a ring of enormous stones topped by lintels, an
inner horseshoe, an outer circle and a ditch. Although aligned to the
movements of the celestial bodies, little is known about the site's purpose.
What leaves most visitors gobsmacked is not the site's religious
significance but the tenacity of the people who brought some of the stones
all the way from South Wales. It's estimated that it would take 600 people
to drag one of these 50-ton monsters more than half an inch. The downside of
Stonehenge is that it's fenced off like a dog compound; there are two main
roads slicing past the site; entry is via an incongruous underpass; and
clashes between new age hippies and police at summer solstice have become a
regular feature of the British calendar. Each year New Age Druids celebrate
the summer solstice, but closer access at other times is strictly limited.
The Cotswolds:
This limestone escarpment, 18 miles north-east of Bristol, overlooking the
Severn Vale, is an upland region of stunningly pretty, gilded stone villages
and remarkable views. Unfortunately, the soft, mellow stone and the
picturesque Agatha Christie charm have resulted in some villages being
overrun by coach tourists and commercialism. Renowned villages include
Bibury (claimed to be the most beautiful village in England); the
chocolate-box town of Bourton-on-the-Water; and the breathtakingly pretty
Chipping Camden. The best way to explore the Cotswolds is to walk; the
100-mile Cotswold Way is a gem of a hike, full of history and interesting
terrain that make the abundance of quaintness easier to swallow.
Oxford:
Arguably the world's most famous university town, Oxford is graced by superb
college architecture and oozes questing youthfulness, scholarship and
bizarre high jinks. The views across the meadows to the city's golden spires
are guaranteed to appear in three out of 10 English period dramas, but they
manage to remain one of the most beautiful and inspiring of sights. Back in
the real world, Oxford is not just the turf of toffs and boffs, it was a
major car-manufacturing centre until the terminal decline of the British car
industry and is now a thriving centre of service industries. The pick of the
colleges are Christ Church, Merton and Magdalen, but nearly all the colleges
are drenched in atmosphere, history, privilege and tradition. Don't kid
yourself, you wouldn't have studied any harder in such august surroundings.
York:
This proud city attracts millions of visitors, but it's too old, too
impressive and too convinced of its own importance to be overwhelmed by mere
tourists. For nearly 2000 years it has been the capital of the north, and
played a central role in British history under the Romans, Saxons and
Vikings. Its spectacular Gothic cathedral, medieval city walls, tangle of
historic streets and glut of teashops and pubs make it a great city for
ambling around. York Minster is the largest cathedral in Europe, and right
up there with the world's great buildings. The city's Museum Gardens are
amongst the most beautiful in Britain and include a number of picturesque
ruins and buildings.
Lake District:
The most green and pleasant corner of a green and pleasant land, the
landscapes of the Lake District are almost too perfect for their own good:
10 million visitors can't be wrong, but they can sure cause a few traffic
jams. The area is a combination of luxuriant green dales, modest but
precipitous mountains and multitudinous lakes. Each of the lakes has its own
distinct character: wisdom holds that Ullswater, Grasmere and Windermere are
the prettiest, but Wast Water, Crummock Water and Buttermere are equally
spectacular and far less crowded. Be prepared to hike into the hills, or
visit on weekdays out of season if you have any desire to emulate the bard
and wander lonely as cloud.
Durham:
Durham is the most dramatic cathedral city in Britain. It straddles a bluff
surrounded on three sides by the River Wear and is dominated by the massive
Norman cathedral which sits on a wooded promontory, looking more like a
time-worn cliff than a house of worship. The cathedral may not be the most
refined in the land, but no other British cathedral has the same impact. The
cathedral shares the dramatic top of the bluff with a Norman castle and the
University College, while the rest of the picturesque 'city' (population
38,000) huddles into the remaining space on the teardrop-shaped promontory.
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